Orders had been given to pass the Sound as soon as the wind would permit; and, on the afternoon of the 29th, the ships were cleared for action, with an alacrity characteristic of British seamen.
— from The Life of Horatio, Lord Nelson by Robert Southey

An act can only be successful or unsuccessful when it is over; if it is to begin, it must be, in the abstract, right or wrong.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

But you are not likely to have any, I see, for they are all coming out.' 'By St. Peter!
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

For this see Edkins's Chinese Buddhism; Eitel's Three Lectures, and Hand-book; Rev. S. Beal's Buddhism, and A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese; The Romantic Legend of Sakya Buddha, from the Chinese; Texts from the Buddhist canon commonly known as the Dhammapeda; Notes on Buddhist Words and Phrases, the Chrysanthemum, Vol.
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

I have only found the one arrangement for each of the numbers 16, 20, and 27; but the other numbers are all capable of being solved in more than one way.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney

[A; ac] cross over, bring s.t. across to the opposite side.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

I hope these will soon be thrown open to an active competition of both sexes.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years by Ida Husted Harper

The formidable strength and artful conduct of Belisarius secured the neutrality of the Moorish princes, whose vanity aspired to receive, in the emperor's name, the ensigns of their regal dignity.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

She sat down on a pile of stones, and sopped her cheek with her handkerchief; then she ate a crust of bread she had put in her basket, and consoled herself by looking at the bird.
— from Three short works The Dance of Death, the Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller, a Simple Soul. by Gustave Flaubert

Widely separated from each other are small frame railway stations—sometimes with no other building in sight, which indicates that somewhere behind the adjacent woods a few shanties and thin cottages are grouped about a couple of brick stores.
— from The Gentleman from Indiana by Booth Tarkington

The next minute a little flag was hoisted in the bows to the end of one of the lance-poles, with the result that there was soon after a cloud of black smoke rolling out of the steamer’s funnel and an increase in the white water at her stern; but the boat went no faster, for the white whale was heavy, although the men pulled with a will.
— from Steve Young by George Manville Fenn

Each frugal repast consists of nothing more than half a pint of good strong tea, green with a dash of black, and a couple of beef sandwiches.
— from The Story of Paul Boyton: Voyages on All the Great Rivers of the World by Paul Boyton

Durand, according to one account, finding the first application of the port-fire of no effect, was obliged to scrape the hose with his finger-nails; then the powder exploded, and with a mighty crash, heard above the roaring of the guns and the noise of the storm, down, amid a column of black smoke, came huge masses of timber and masonry in dire confusion.
— from The First Afghan War by Mowbray Morris

"I like it," she said nodding to Marian, "and when I get down those solemn-looking pictures, hang up my own [34] favorites, put a cheerful cover on that table and a couple of bright sofa pillows on that lounge, and have some plants in that south window, it will be very cozy."
— from Little Maid Marian by Amy Ella Blanchard

Each company remained still as a collection of bronze statues till we were opposite to it, when at a signal given by its commanding officer, who, distinguished by a leopard skin cloak, stood some paces in front, every spear was raised into the air, and from three hundred throats sprang forth with a sudden roar the royal salute of " Koom ."
— from King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

My friend the storekeeper married without having ever beheld his wife before they met at the altar, and came on board ship at once with her.
— from Letters from the Cape by Duff Gordon, Lucie, Lady